New project - Chuka Bocko chef knife

C

CocoMonGo

Joined
Oct 17, 2011
Messages
16
Hi all,

I am restarting my knife making efforts after a pretty long hiatus - it has been nearly 1 year since I last touch the grinder!
Anyhow I am planning to make a chukabocho kitchen knives for daily home use. For those unfamiliar with this knife style it is a Chinese chef knife made with a Japanese approach (thin, harder steel). It looks like a meat/bone cleaver but is no different from any chef knife and should not/will not be used for bone chopping.

So the knife that will be made with a blade size of 220mm x 100mm and spine thickness of 2mm and should weight about 350g. I am planning to also make this with a "wa" traditional japanese handle/i.e. tapered tang that is friction fitted. So my questions are:

1. Given the size of the knife and expected use what is your recommended length/size should the tang be?
2. Assuming the knife will only experience daily slicing work and no (hard/bone) chopping, how long does a normal friction fitted tang knives last before becoming loose and require replacement?

Current thinking of what the blade will look like. The red/brown part is supposed to be the handle.
p1327287233-4.jpg


What the handle construction will look like.
[video=youtube;kscVkVV21Pw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kscVkVV21Pw[/video]
 
For a 220mm blade, I would use an 85-100mm tang and a 150mm wa handle.

You drew the tang as a long taper. That isn't quite right. There is a portion of the tang that goes in the handle, leaving 10-15mm exposed. Place a shoulder at that point for the handle to seat against. The tang part that is inserted in the handle is only slightly tapered.

Properly installed, a wa handle will stay on a long time. I use just a little epoxy and they stay on forever. Seat the handle, tap it off and apply some epoxy, re-seat the handle.
 
Many thanks for the input Stacy. The closest translation I can get to when you mentioned leaving 10-15mm exposed is the emoto/neck per the diagram below?

http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/misc/jbladeant.shtml

I did a quick adjustment of the drawing. I think this is what you meant?

p1338250441-3.jpg


On other forums, some people seems to prefer with and some prefer without the neck while almost all the chuka bocho knives I have seen does not come with any emoto. It could be a design/user preference thing that is worth taking into consideration. Let me try and mock up some cardboard models with and without it and see which could be better. Thanks again Stacy! :)
 
Your sketch was what I was referring to.

Yes, many tangs are just tapered and the handle is hammered on tight. That will work, but I like a stronger and more permanent fit-up. It is probably more a mater of personal taste than any real difference.
 
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